Barry Foster Walk Away From Bengals, Football

Barry Foster, the 1992 AFC rushing champion who signed a $1 million contract with the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday, quit the team today and headed home.

Foster, a former three-time Pro Bowl player while with the Pittsburgh Steelers, had been out of football this season until he signed the deal committing him to Cincinnati. He told Bengal Coach Dave Shula this morning that he had lost his desire to play in the NFL.

"Barry Foster quit," Bengal spokesman Jack Brennan said. "He came in and told Dave that he didn't want to play football any more."

The Bengals had been considering using Foster in limited action against Cleveland Sunday.

-- Keith Hamilton, a defensive tackle for the New York Giants, plans to appeal a $12,000 fine from the NFL for hitting Philadelphia quarterback Rodney Peete with the crown of his helmet.

Peete suffered a concussion on the play in the Eagles' victory Oct. 15 and did not play in the second half. Hamilton, who was not penalized on the play, has 10 days to appeal.

-- The $4,000 fine levied against Bronco linebacker Dave Wyman for hitting Oakland quartebrack Jeff Hostetler was increased to $12,000.

"We were able to get more angles on the play," AFC information director Leslie Hammond said. NFL officials reviewed the tape after Hostetler complained.

Wyman was not suspended because he sat out three quarters of the Oct. 16 game, Hammond said.

TENNIS

MaliVai Washington upset fellow American Andre Agassi, the world's top-ranked player, today in the Essen (Germany) Open.

Washington beat Agassi 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the $2.1 million tournament in which 18 of the world's Top 20 are playing.

Agassi's top rival, Pete Sampras, reached the quarterfinals with an easy 6-2, 6-4 win over Australia's Mark Woodforde. Spain's Sergi Bruguera also advanced with a 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-1) victory over Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic.

-- A big chunk of Steffi Graf's supposedly missing fortune has been found, and $14.3 million has been deposited with tax authorities, the tennis star's lawyer said.

A week ago, lawyer Peter Danckert said his defense team was trying to locate money that Graf's father, Peter Graf, reportedly had sent abroad in a series of transfers before his arrest in August.

Danckert, quoted by the German sports news agency SID, said the "largest part" of the missing money had been recovered, and $10.7 million of it had been deposited against future tax bills.

BOWLING

Walter Ray Williams Jr. won four straight games to capture the Rochester (N.Y.) Open on the PBA Tour. He defeated David Traber 235-232 to win the 16th tournament title of his career.

-- Anne Marie Duggan averaged 244 over her final eight games of match play, climbing from seventh place to capture the top qualifying position for the finals of the LPBT's $75,000 Hammer Eastern Open in Baltimore.

Duggan, of Edmond, Okla., won seven of eight matches, including a run of 279, 278, 265, 259 and 259, to complete 42 games with a pinfall of 9,729.

- Seattle Times news services